The Complete Stax / Volt Soul Singles, Vol. 3: 1972- 1975

So many tunes are all digitized and i already had all of these but getting the box set for such a low price was truly a grift. I am very pleased and will keep it for as long as I live.

No problems-

No disrepect meant to the other reviewers, but I held out buying this for years until I read the positive comments here. It's fine music for it's time, but doesnt come close in any way to the greatness of the 60s. It's almost all pretty mediocre stuff, and shouldnt be positively compared to the music from the glory days of Stax.

Soul at its best!

It was a very good products.

It started in 1959 and ended in Beauty in 1975. Hundreds f marvelous Songs. This is a beautifull Collectors Item.

By 1972, Stax had proved that it could carry on and be just as strong as it was during its first golden era when Otis Redding was its principal star. The label from '68-'71, as chronicled in the second box, enjoyed a greater multitude of success, new acts, and experimented with new sounds to keep up with the changing times, both socially and musically, but it still stuck to its gritty and raw roots that made Stax what it was; it was that Southern flavor with the exposure of blues and gospel coming through strong. It was the antithesis of Motown's polish and refinement. Here, the Stax sound was laced with bass guitar, simple yet funky drum licks, oozing organ, and a tight horn section. At this point, where this third set documents, it was all that but with many different ensembles(whether they were in Detroit, Muscle Shoals, or at their own McLemore studios there in Memphis) giving their own take on that trademark Southern sound.At 10 CDs and 213 tracks, this set covers the latter-most era as Stax moves from just before its biggest triumph at its own sponsered music festival, Wattstax, to its unfortunate downfall in bankruptcy. As Stax was reaping the rewards of success in the summer of '72, Stax was placed in the distributional hands of CBS, a major player in popular music, to which hopefully Stax could acheive the once-and-for-all monumental household-name status of that of Motown. With Stax over-spending, certain people not being careful enough with money, and with CBS supposedly over-ordering, warehousing and holding back funds on Stax product, the deal went sour and Stax became racked with debts that would ultimately force them into a shutdown in late fall 1975.Despite that kind of story that went behind the scenes of these fantastic recordings, none of that seems to cloud the atmosphere of the music. The silky smooth and raw funky '70s sounds of R&B are brought forth quite well. It is, as always with Stax, the stuff to get your groove on with!Longtime Stax veterans Eddie Floyd, William Bell, Rufus Thomas, and Johnnie Taylor still enjoy some success, particularly the latter-most mentioned with his hits like "I Believe In You" (disc 4), "Cheaper To Keep Her" (disc 5), and "I've Been Born Again" (disc 7), and "Doin' My Own Thing" (disc 1) which is a return to his roots in blues. Rufus continues his string of dance singles like "Itch and Scratch" (disc 3), "Funky Robot" (disc 4) and "Boogie Ain't Nothin' But Gettin' Down" (disc 8), William Bell providing soul-soaked ballads like "Lovin' On Borrowed Time" (disc 4), and "Getting What You Want" (disc 7), and Eddie Floyd, who in my opinion, had the most fun-sounding repertoire such as "Yum Yum Yum (I Want Some)" (disc 1, the opener), "Soul Street" (disc 8), "Baby Lay Your Head Down" (reggae-sounding, disc 5), and "I Got A Reason To Smile" (disc 9). There are too many great songs to mention, as is the case with all the artists, and it's even a shame when looking at the list of singles that failed to hit the charts, because some have loads of potential. Take the Bessie Banks cut on disc 9, "Try To Leave Me If You Can"; that is such a sumptuous performance.Other artists that slowly watched their careers at Stax dwindle down during this time is Carla Thomas (everything from her is great), the Bar-Kays (same), and Isaac Hayes (same again, check out his only vocal duet with David Porter on disc 2). Yet amidst some of the older acts seeing less and less activity in the output, many of the other artists continued to thrive along with new acts trying to get their names across. The Staple Singers are among Stax's most successful vocal groups as well as the Dramatics, the Emotions and the Soul Children along side Stax newbies Frederick Knight, Mel & Tim, Sandra Wright, Veda Brown, and Shirley Brown. Blues men Albert King and Little Milton continue to contrubute to the bluesy side of Stax while soul men and women you don't normally associate with Stax cut a few sides like Brook Benton, Inez Foxx, the Sweet Inspirations, and even fromer Motown star Kim Weston.If none of the other sets really consumed you musically and emotionally through its feeling and lyrics, this one will. The lyrics reveal the honesty and sometimes intensity of what every human being experiences. Read near the beginning of the booklet where it says "Guts"; that about sums it all up.Though this was Stax's closing years, it was more diversified than ever with its roster and with its genres of music that it branched out on. Not every single that Stax issued is here, hence the name "Stax/Volt Soul" singles. The rock group the Gentrys ("Keep On Dancing"), cut some sides with Stax, but they are not here. If that were the case, goodness knows how many more discs this one could have spawned if it covered rock, country, jazz and gospel; Rance Allen does not appear either. Not very many B-sides are included, but these are perhaps minor quibbles. This third box, like its predecessors, suits very well in telling the story of what Stax was all about. Rob Bowman's notes are very fun to read and very enlightening. Yet, every time it's still confusing as to what the root cause of what made Stax's mightiness cave in. The simple answer is that Stax became the victim of a hostile takeover, but that did not diminish the quality of the music and its soul. Enjoy the closing chapter of the story of a landmark record company that taught America that soul was in everyone.

Although its true that the STAX singles that WERE the Memphis Soul sound "we all grew up with" (even if we were born 20 years to late) came circa the '60s (Otis Redding, Booker T, Mar-keys era) etc., fact is this:STAX was releasing some REALLY bad*ss funky soul in the early '70s, the catch maybe is that the label didn't have AS distinct a sound as it did a few years earlier (then again, minus the romanticism, maybe it could be argued that one of the reasons Stax's sound was so unique was that so many of the hits sounded the same... yet were fronted by performers who had the star power to represent the sound... a pattern typical of most the great labels of the era) - - by the '70s, the STAX sound you hear is one that is evolving... and one in which the groups, rather than relying on one house band are also beginning to have their own sound... hence a label that was a true treasure chest of talent. While the world was catching up with them, STAX was simply "searching" for new directions... and hear you can hear it... gospel, funk, blues, rhythm & blues... even the orchestral soul of Issac Hayes and then some.Though this box set might sound a bit pricey, actually its dirt cheap when you consider than if you buy all volumes of the story you're getting a full and complete soul education... and only 10 years earlier hunting down all this stuff would not have only been virtually impossible but cost a couple thousand dollars (this volume alone.) Now, hear it all is for relatively very little money, all in GOOD condition (nothing beat up or scratched) and at the push of a button... and minus the funky basement smell (actually I kinda miss that...)If you like this series, definitely go watch the WATTSTAX (Living Word) DVD as well as Rob Bowman's SOULSVILLE U.S.A. book on the behind the scenes story of the label... they fit perfectly together.

There are three volumes in the Stax Soul Singles series, divided by years, with this volume (Volume 3) covering 1972-1975. There are ten CDs in the set, arranged mostly chronologically, along with a well-written overview of the StaxVolt company and the singles in that era. The CDs are in a sturdy cardboard outer box.The years covered by this box yielded a ton of hits for Stax, and, for me at least, is the best of the three volumes (mainly because before 1972 I wasn't listening to the radio!). Going through the CDs brought back a lot of memories of listening to the radio and LPs, as well as revealing a number of songs I don't remember but found really nice. Many of the "hits" I have not heard in decades, so this really was a trip down memory lane! I have the other two volumes in this series, but this box is my favorite.

最近の特定の製作者による紋切り型の簡素な音にこりごりの黒人音楽好きの方是非聴いて頂きたい。200曲以上の泥臭い曲たちを。ＰＯＰな曲、ＦＵＮＫＹな曲、駄作もあるが傑作多々あり。ヘイズにドラマチックス、ジョニーテイラにソウルチルドレン等などの感情移入しまくりの名作たちはもちろん、入手困難な作品多数。高額ではあるが十分なボリュームで満足の行く商品である。レコ盤風の大きくてお洒落なケースも最高でインテリアとしてもＯＫ。ＶＯＬ２はどこで入手できるの？

Ich habe sie alle drei - die Single-Collections von Stax-Volt, insgesamt 28 CDs. Und alle drei Boxen sind ihr Geld wert, man kann wunderbar eintauchen in die Zeit und die Stimmung des (fast ausschließlich schwarzen) Soul. Die Restaurierungen der Tracks sind ausgezeichnet gelungen, bei diesem 3. Teil der Sammlung kommt auch die bereits wesentlich bessere Aufnahmetechnik der 70er Jahre zum Tragen. Das hier beiliegende "Booklet" im LP-Format hat 60 Seiten, und dokumentiert mit zahlreichen Fotos und Anekdoten die Geschichte des Labels und der Musiker, zeigt aber auch die damalige Werbung für einige Produktionen. Die 3 Boxen sind nicht billig - aber jeden Cent wert.